7-6 Marlins walkoff...again!

 

Gaby Sanchez: 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 HR, 2 R

 

Dan Uggla: 2-5, 2 RBI 1 HR, 1 2B, 2 R

 

Donnie Murphey: 1-1, 1 RBI, 1 WOW

 

A walkoff from an "unlikely source" (Donnie Murphey) (who's that scrub blocking this guy from playing? :whistle).

 

Gaby and Uggla getting the long ball work.

 

Awesome to come back today in the 9th like that, expecially against the team leading our division.

 

Oh, and one more thing,

 

WE ARE BACK TO .500!

Should add Bryan Peterson to that list. We lose this game if it wasn't for Peterson's clutch RBI's.

Should add Bryan Peterson to that list. We lose this game if it wasn't for Peterson's clutch RBI's.

 

 

I agree.

Petersen also beat the curse of Mike Lamb.

Good to see what had been a glaring hole (the bench) coming through! The bullpen is getting better, Tank excluded!, despite the 9th inning melt down. I'm still not convinced this team can win it, another week like this one may change m mind.

Donnie Murphy is the G.O.A.T.

I'm not sure what Edwin Rodriguez did to get on the poll (not really a knock on him, just saying he did nothing special).

 

Bryan Petersen and team defense (specifically Hanley's) should be added to the list.

 

Tonight was also the reason why everyone hates Bonifacio. Great speed, yet he can't even run the bases properly. He didn't pick up the 3rd base coach rounding 2nd because he was looking at the OF'er for some reason. Then he gets a horrible jump on the passed ball; fortunately, he's so fast that it didn't end up mattering.

 

It's like he's afraid to make mistakes. He doesn't even get good leads to steal bases.

Good to see what had been a glaring hole (the bench) coming through! The bullpen is getting better, Tank excluded!, despite the 9th inning melt down. I'm still not convinced this team can win it, another week like this one may change m mind.

 

 

 

This team's biggest need is another quality starting pitcher.

 

Another bench bat would be nice. I think the bullpen is actually good enough. Clay Hensley has hit a little bump on the road his past 2-3 appearances, but I'll take the larger sample of the entire year to judge him. Jose Veras had a bad night, but he had been throwing strikes/was lights out since coming back from the minors before this outing. Brian Sanches pitched well again. And before that McCann AB, lefties were only 1-23 against Tank, meaning he's still a reliable LOOGY. McCann's a good hitter and he just so happened to get a good swing on a pitch, in a hitter's count. I'm more bothered by the two walks prior to that.

 

Point is, we need a starter. The bullpen looks terrible at times because we're not getting enough innings from starters. Sanabia only went 4.1 innings tonight. And he's not even our #5...he's the #4. This starting rotation isn't good enough. That's the main problem.

We are outhit, strike out more our pitchers walk more and we still win again? We are the luckiest team on the planet. J. Veras the fish of the game since he got the win right?

We've got guys like Sean West and Chris Volstad who can serve as 5th starters. Hell if push comes to shove we have Badenhop and VandenHurk who have prior experience as well. As you yourself Erick have said before, all you need from your 5th starter is a 5-6 IP 3-4 ER game and he did better than your prototypical 5th starter.

 

 

________

 

As far as Uggla strikeout, nobody was going to hit that nasty slider. Albert Pujols/Miguel Cabrera/Josh Hamilton and everybody else in the majors would've struck out on that pitch.

We are outhit, strike out more our pitchers walk more and we still win again? We are the luckiest team on the planet. J. Veras the fish of the game since he got the win right?

 

 

We giftwrapped a win for Braves and then we took the gift back.

Lots of contributions tonight, but Gaby Sanchez was the reason why we were in position to do anything. Great defense tonight (also from the other infielders) and his homer put us back on top after the big homer by the Braves. His single in the 9th put the wheels of comeback in motion, putting Bonifacio in position to score and then being position himself to score the go-ahead run.

 

Good game all around, it stinks that we blew the lead at all but I'm not gonna be here cursing Rodriguez or Veras for the situation. It's one of those things that happen in the course of a baseball season, and this wasn't the first time that a rain delay has caused our team issues in big situations. In the end, its great to see this team claw in and get wins and there's legitimate reason to feel optimistic again.

We've got guys like Sean West and Chris Volstad who can serve as 5th starters. Hell if push comes to shove we have Badenhop and VandenHurk who have prior experience as well. As you yourself Erick have said before, all you need from your 5th starter is a 5-6 IP 3-4 ER game and he did better than your prototypical 5th starter.

 

 

________

 

As far as Uggla strikeout, nobody was going to hit that nasty slider. Albert Pujols/Miguel Cabrera/Josh Hamilton and everybody else in the majors would've struck out on that pitch.

 

 

 

I'm not saying Volstad or West are bad young pitchers; but fact is, West hasn't been in the big leagues this year so I'm not counting on him, and Volstad was sent down to the minors for a reason (didn't even pitch all that well in his last start in AAA).

 

My point is, if you expect to be a contender, this starting rotation is not good enough. Before anyone looks at the overall #'s, it's worth noting that those #'s are very deceiving because Josh Johnson>Chuck Norris. Look at the 2-5 on this team, and you really have nothing special.

 

Anibal Sanchez is who he is. He's been our #2, but realistically he's not a #2.

Ricky Nolasco is an X-factor. He should be the actual #2 but he's very inconsistent in the sense that he's either very good or very bad, game to game.

That leaves the 21 year old Sanabia who's good for, at best, 5 innings at the big league level right now, and ??? as the #5.

 

That's not good enough.

BTW, Dim, I went through the game thread, posted this there, but I thought I'd repeat it:

 

Yeah guys, I don't expect another "Donnie Murphy" moment, especially tonight.

 

Wagner is a great closer.

 

 

Great reverse jinx call

BTW, Dim, I went through the game thread, posted this there, but I thought I'd repeat it:

 

 

Yeah guys, I don't expect another "Donnie Murphy" moment, especially tonight.

 

Wagner is a great closer.

 

 

Great reverse jinx call

 

HAHA, go check the Donnie Murphy walk off thread.

 

I believe my post was "Our Season is in the hands of Donnie Murphy...I give up."

 

I have a knack

I agree that the starting is not where it needs to be. If the number 5 position were all that were iffy at this point, it would be different. But we really don't know what we have in Sanabia as he hasn't had the opportunity to go deep in games and simply may not be able to very often this season. Volstad was sent down for a reason and he completely blew last year down the stretch when we needed him badly. Sean West had worse numbers in everything but ERA last year than Nate Robertson and hasn't been able to pitch enough to show that he could be more effective this year. Vanden Hurk hasn't ever been trusted by this organization, even though they've given long stretches to guys like Nate Robertson and Andrew Miller, nevermind that he was actually better than all these guys starting down the stretch last year. He should have been given a chance as a 5th starter at some point already this season, but he wasn't after Robertson was brought in and his performance languishing in the minors hasn't been good. Regardless of how good he could have been, he doesn't seem to be any good now.

 

We're not gonna bring in Roy Oswalt, but I wonder if there are any mid-grade starters (not low-end like Robertson, whose one selling point is not getting hurt) who could be had for a reasonable price.

I've been saying for a while now and I know a lot of people here think its foolish, that there are guys playing in the minors, not just in our organization, but throughout the AAA level who through no fault of their own aren't playing major league ball and could be contributing if given the chance.

 

There's a lesson to be learned from the guys who have been the heroes this week - Murphy, Peterson, Bonifacio - they all shared playing time under E-Rod this season by the way in NOLA.

 

He knows them, he trusts them, he's leaning on them and they're delivering for him and I don't think it's by accident.

http://sports.espn.g...rumblings100722

 

Here are some starting pitchers Jayson Stark mentions could be moved at the Trade Deadline

 

http://sports.espn.g...tarting9/100721

 

Here are some bullpen options from Crasnick mentions could be available at the Deadline.

 

 

For bullpen, Kyle Farnsworth really intrigues me. He has been having a career year, he has experience pitching in important games late in the season, plus given the Royals willingness to trade him we could probably get him a John Raynor kind of prospect for him or two (just speculating).

 

As far as starting pitching, Marcum would probably cost too much and some of the others are probably unrealistic. Jeremy Guthrie probably wouldn't be too much of a hassle to get.

 

Still, the important thing is to maintain this winning streak first. We could very easily be sellers if we suck the next week.

great game but it would be nice if the f***ing giants would lose.

great game but it would be nice if the f***ing giants would lose.

 

 

D-Backs bullpen sucks 1000X worse than ours, don't count on it.

I've been saying for a while now and I know a lot of people here think its foolish, that there are guys playing in the minors, not just in our organization, but throughout the AAA level who through no fault of their own aren't playing major league ball and could be contributing if given the chance.

 

There's a lesson to be learned from the guys who have been the heroes this week - Murphy, Peterson, Bonifacio - they all shared playing time under E-Rod this season by the way in NOLA.

 

He knows them, he trusts them, he's leaning on them and they're delivering for him and I don't think it's by accident.

 

 

We still haven't even seen Hector Luna, who was outhitting Murphy and could probably take the spot of a guy like Helms if he is traded.

I've been saying for a while now and I know a lot of people here think its foolish, that there are guys playing in the minors, not just in our organization, but throughout the AAA level who through no fault of their own aren't playing major league ball and could be contributing if given the chance.

 

There's a lesson to be learned from the guys who have been the heroes this week - Murphy, Peterson, Bonifacio - they all shared playing time under E-Rod this season by the way in NOLA.

 

He knows them, he trusts them, he's leaning on them and they're delivering for him and I don't think it's by accident.

 

 

We still haven't even seen Hector Luna, who was outhitting Murphy and could probably take the spot of a guy like Helms if he is traded.

 

everyone here knows i have been killing to see luna

Another thing worth noting with the whole starter vs. bullpen comparison...

 

You can't just hope to get lucky with a starter; with a bullpen, you can experiment. All of the young starters we have could easily come in and probably pitch well out of the pen (Sanabia included). Since we're speaking of minor league players, Jose Ceda is lights out right now in AA. You never know if a young power arm like that pans out in a role where he only has to go an inning in the big leagues. Even Marinez if he continues getting chances and works his way up.

 

With a starter, it's different. I really think we need a veteran starter who can give quality innings, if we're going to contend. At least an upgrade over what we currently have.

There's a reason they settled on Murphy and not Luna and we may never know what that was, but clearly the choice was there to be made and they made it. Since both guys were regs for E-Rod you have to figure he knew who was going to fit in best up here (and that's being said by someone has been talking about Luna for the last six weeks or so).

I'm not sure what Edwin Rodriguez did to get on the poll (not really a knock on him, just saying he did nothing special).

 

Bryan Petersen and team defense (specifically Hanley's) should be added to the list.

 

Tonight was also the reason why everyone hates Bonifacio. Great speed, yet he can't even run the bases properly. He didn't pick up the 3rd base coach rounding 2nd because he was looking at the OF'er for some reason. Then he gets a horrible jump on the passed ball; fortunately, he's so fast that it didn't end up mattering.

 

It's like he's afraid to make mistakes. He doesn't even get good leads to steal bases.

 

 

He didn't even need to look at Espada. Hes a professional baseballl player and should have known before he was at 2nd weather or not he was going to 3rd. The play was right in front of him. When ever the plays in front font you as a runner you should be able to determine if you should go.

I really thought he was hosed even if he didn't hesitate as Cabrera has a gun. Luckily chipper couldn't pick the ball.

 

I think we stand a good chance to take this series. Medlan Vs Sanchez should be in our favor.

I don't think the need for another lefty specialist is all that necessary (would be nice, but I wouldn't consider it a priority). Fact is, the 3 righties at the backend of our bullpen right now have been successful against left-handed hitters this year; that's why I say that. I wouldn't mind getting another LOOGY, though simply because it definitely wouldn't hurt.

 

A backup catcher; I don't know if that's necessary either. Baker is not expected to be out for the year. You just need a guy who can play once or twice a week and call a good game, imo. Hayes/Davis seem no worse than Matt Treanor while he was here, and Matt Treanor played. Edwin just has to give the backup catcher a spot start or two per week to keep Paulino fresh, until Baker comes back. For what it's worth, I thought Davis was impressive defensively the other night, and even though it's the PCL, he was putting up respectable offensive #'s this year in AAA. At least good enough to be a backup catcher in the big leagues all things considered, imo. I think he just needs an opportunity to be a backup catcher. It won't hurt us.

 

I definitely agree with needing another bench bat, though. (despite the recent heroics)